A review of telephone coaching services for people with long-term conditions

Abstract

In one-to-one telephone coaching, the patient receives regular telephone calls from a health professional. We have reviewed the evidence for one-to-one telephone coaching. Following a literature search we retrieved 41 articles which reported on the development and the efficacy of 34 separate telephone coaching interventions for LTC management. Telephone coaching for LTC management has only occurred in the last ten years, is becoming increasingly prevalent, and is dominated by interventions in North America and Europe. Twenty-seven (79%) of the studies reported on randomised designs involving at least one control or comparison group/condition. Of the 34 interventions reviewed, 17 (50%) were aimed at diabetes management and 17 (50%) were designed to manage chronic cardiovascular conditions. Most studies (32 or 94%) reported outcomes in favour of the telephone coaching intervention, although few (15%) employed any form of cost-benefit analysis (CBA). In order to obtain a better impression of overall service efficacy, more clearly defined service outcomes are required in future.

Patient Engagement—What Works?

“…Health coaches use motivational interviewing techniques that respect patients' autonomy and help them make health choices that fit with their preferences and situation (Rollnick et al, 2002). There is evidence that targeted health coaching can have a beneficial effect on risk factors and health outcomes, leading to lower mortality rates and improvements in health behaviors Hutchison & Breckon, 2011;Neubeck et al, 2009).…”

An evidence-based approach to the use of telehealth in long-term health conditions: development of an intervention and evaluation through pragmatic randomised controlled trials in patients with depression or raised cardiovascular risk

“…63,282,415,431,432 These have continued to support our previous conclusion that the evidence for the benefit of telehealth is limited, although a systematic review of telephone health coaching for people with LTCs published in 2011 was generally positive. 433 A useful review focused on the evidence on the implementation as well as the effectiveness of interactive web-based programmes for older patients with LTCs. 413 This found that these programmes were associated with improvements in self-efficacy and self-management behaviours, but there was little evidence of benefits in terms of health outcomes.…”

Engaging older adults in their transitional care: what more needs to be done?

“…Cochrane has assembled a sample inventory of such aids [103]. The positive effects of decision aids are increased when combined with face-to-face counseling or targeted coaching [35]. In Coulter and Ellins' review, younger adult patients with multiple complex problems seem to require more direct and longerterm involvement with clinicians [8,24,104].…”